239 – Are the Returnees Brave? (7)
Break down the wall and move forward. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. There is no sense of tension or urgency, it is just a repetition of mechanical actions.
“… Is it like this?”
Rather than being afraid of ghosts, I started to look forward to what would come next. If you fight, you win anyway, so is there any need to be afraid of ghosts?
However, as the ghosts became more prevalent, my physical condition gradually worsened. The heart rate slows down, the lips turn blue, and the skin over the entire body becomes pale. As for magic attribute, it’s running as well as before, or rather, better than before… The body cannot withstand the continued use of ‘chill’. Even though I had the ‘Health’ stat right before, it was still like this, so if I had just come in, I might have regressed a long time ago.
Well, it’s okay right now. This is not reality anyway, and when I return to reality, my body will return to its normal state. Since there are no side effects from misuse of magical power, I can use it with peace of mind.
Still, in a corner of my mind, I imagined what kind of ending I would have had if I had written ‘Hanki’ without any regression. Or maybe the regression hurdle was a little lower, and the regression point was fixed as I had already used a lot of ‘chill’.
Even if I get bent by the grass and die while struggling, or even if I climb all the way up the tower… It must have been short-lived. The fact that I would return if I used all my strength was a limitation to me, but on the other hand, it was also a shield that protected my body, so it can be said to be ironic.
“Let’s focus, focus.”
After finishing my random thoughts, I focus on destroying the wall again.
I feel like I want to rest. No matter how superhuman he was, repeating endless acts of destruction was painful and exhausting. I wanted to lie down somewhere and sleep for a little while, but I couldn’t sleep because I felt like I would be taken to the hospital in my dreams again if I fell asleep here.
A little bit. Let’s wait a little longer.
After killing the giant eyeball with about 300 human ears attached to its body, it empties its brain and destroys the hallway. If the 24th floor is this long, how are other people supposed to wake up? I’d better go crazy before I wake up. Chewing on angels while muttering to myself, I hit the tip of my sword again…
[The angel in charge has requested a meeting.]
[Y/N]
“Huh?”
Is it because I worked so hard? It seems useless. Shake your head from side to side, throw away distracting thoughts, and return to the tip of your sword…
[The angel in charge earnestly requests a meeting.]
[Y/N]
“… ?”
What kind of situation is this?
**
Usually, when you think of the word ‘mental hospital,’ a very scary and negative image comes to mind first. So, people in general are reluctant to visit mental hospitals.
Of course, the hospital is aware of this image, so they try hard to create as comfortable and warm an atmosphere as possible. Plants are grown in the treatment room, and the interior is mainly in cozy colors. Opening a lot of windows to let in sunlight or keeping the lights on are the basics. The name is also called ‘Mental Health Clinic’ rather than ‘Mental Hospital’.
And in fact, the vast majority of ghost stories about mental hospitals are all nonsense.
“Hey, there’s just one rule at our hospital.”
“Yes, teacher.”
“You must never, ever enter room 404. Do you understand? No matter what happens. “Never.”
“… Yes?”
“Don’t ask why. “If you work here, you will figure it out on your own.”
… Except for this place.
A fairly large mental hospital located on the outskirts of the city center. Room 4 on the 4th floor here is a space that you must not enter under any circumstances. So far, twelve nurses have gone crazy, six workers called to demolish a room have strangled each other, and a police officer has committed suicide by jumping naked.
No matter what happens, you must not enter room 404. Even if you go in… You must never, ever fall asleep…
“This is the setting.”
The angel sitting on the old bed in room 404 finishes the explanation. He was the first angel I’ve ever seen wearing glasses, and his hair wasn’t straight, but bobbed and wavy. I would say she’s a pretty, but quite easy-going girl who goes to engineering school.
“As the climbers wander between reality and nightmare, they discover a piece of a broken key. The total number of pieces needed is three. The moment the complete key is completed, a mysterious door appears in front of you, and when you open it and come out, you’ll think, ‘Actually, it was a dream…’ ‘ I came to my senses in room 404… It was that kind of floor… “
An angel gently lifting the temple of his glasses with his index finger.
“When faced with a monster, you run away, and sometimes you even die… Soon he wakes up again in the hospital room, seeking wisdom and finding a way… This floor was designed to test not only courage, but all of a person’s abilities… “
“So… Why did you invite me?”
Bang!
“Are you saying that now?”
As soon as I interrupted him, he hit the bed frame! An angel coming down.
“Climber… Are you kidding me? Yes? After doing so much, why did you call me now? While being human… On the subject of humans… !”
“No no…” “
What is this sound. What did I do? I feel unfair.
Whether I stand there blankly or not, as I don’t understand the situation, the angel is hysterically scratching his head and venting his anger.
“Some men break their brains to escape. Doesn’t that strange girl keep the key piece in subspace and keep it even if the game is over? Doesn’t the girl with the ponytail ignore the ghosts’ attacks and just walk away? ! Even you, you… ! “You are the worst!”
“… “
“Because of you, because of you…” ” ” !”
“Just calm down a little. “Listen to me.”
I know that this angel is very angry, but from my perspective, I still don’t understand.
“Uh… So. “I admit that I beat the 24th floor in a different way than the creator intended.”
“It’s expedient! It’s a detour! A carefully designed floor… !”
“So… Why did you request this interview? I think I would have woken up if I went a little further.”
“Why did you break it? “I feel like my head is going to explode!”
Was there ever an angel who was this irritated? Anael was truly an angel. He’s an angel too though.
“Actually, it’s not a problem at all if you wander around without finding the key piece. Out of so many climbers, one is trapped forever, and that happens quite often.”
“… But what?”
“But what did you do…” “Guilty…” “Please wait a moment.”
Instead of getting angry, angels are deeply concerned about something. He sends signals to summon other angels to listen to their stories, taps his fingers in the air to look at them carefully, and sometimes takes out a notebook from his chest and flips through it.
He seems to be contemplating whether to say something or not.
After enough time passed, the angel finally made up his mind.
“Great. Let me explain what happened. It shouldn’t have happened in the first place, but… I am explaining this at my discretion. “To let you know what a terrible thing you have done.”
The angel clapped his hands and waved both hands to draw strange shapes. After a while, something in the shape of a fluffy thing began to rise from the floor.
“… “Is that the doctor?”
“To be exact, he is a mental patient who thinks he is a doctor. This is a soul who went crazy after being abused in a hospital, and he came to truly believe that what he suffered was a cure. “It’s hard to say he’s pitiful, even though he murdered hundreds of people during his lifetime.”
A monster with a reflector that doctors wear on their head where the eyes should be, who shoved an iron rod into my nose. A doctor’s assistant is standing.
“The monsters that appear on the 24th floor, like this spirit… These are things that the Archangel himself collected. “Only unusual and bizarre things were carefully selected.”
“Ah~.”
“You can tell by looking at this, but this is not the original. However, it is more like a copy or alter ego of the original.”
“Oh, yes.”
I can’t tell by looking at it, but I nod my head.
“However, in order to exist within the tower, it must have substance and at least a piece of soul. “I saw earlier that you were aware of your soul, so I believe you know this much.”
“Oh, of course. Sure. Please speak comfortably.”
“I understand.”
He’s pouring out stories he’s never heard before, but the moment he responds ‘Huh?’, The angel will close his mouth. Here, you can get more information by staying still.
“The Archangel wanted to create a floor where fearsome beings would appear and test one’s courage… The core of the monster was stored separately in the ‘center of the world’, and the remaining parts were designed to be fragmented and appear in the tower. Even if there are multiple ’24th floors’ at the same time, everyone can experience the same experience.”
“… ?”
“If I were to explain it from a human perspective… Save the original on a large server and bring a copy to the tower. However, it retains fragments of the original so that it can exist in the tower. This is a fairly popular method now, but our Archangel is the first.”
So, the originals of the monsters that appear here are stored separately, and copies appear in the tower.
If two people entered each floor at the same time, there would have to be two monsters, so it seemed a pretty reasonable method.
“But the problem is that since all monsters are in spirit form, they are extremely vulnerable to external shocks. You can think of it as ceramics that break when struck. Since it contains fragments of the original, any impact to the copy will also cause damage to the original. Therefore, in order to prevent damage from monsters, the Archangel sets a limit on the climber’s actions the moment they enter the hallway… “
“You let it go?”
“You… Didn’t you destroy everything!!! Weak monsters! With that barbaric sword!!! By taking advantage of errors!”
“To… “
“Because of you… Most of the original copies of the monsters stored in the center of the world were damaged… ! Copying has become impossible! If I hadn’t requested an interview, the damage would have been even greater! What are You planning to do with this? What should I do when the Archangel returns? When new climbers enter the 24th floor, you’ll think it’s empty!”
“Uh… “
Therefore… The monsters on the 24th floor are actually very vulnerable to attack, so you shouldn’t touch them…
Did I kill them all?
And there were fragments of the original in the copy, and the original died in the reaction of me killing the copy, so it won’t appear on the 24th floor in the future?
This… This…
“… ?”
Isn’t it beneficial for humans?